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  • BBC Science Focus Magazine

    FLIGHT OF THE NAVIGATOR

    May 28, 2020 5 minutes
    by DR PAUL PARSONS
    “FLYING IN THE ALIEN ATMOSPHERE OF ANOTHER WORLD IS A FEAT THAT POSES A UNIQUE SET OF ENGINEERING CHALLENGES”

    Whether disrupting air traffic, returning glorious vistas of Earth from above, or just spying on the neighbours (if that’s your thing), drones have become a familiar sight in our skies. Now, for the first time, the US space agency NASA is poised to fly a drone-like helicopter in the atmosphere of another planet.

    The craft, named Ingenuity, will hitch a ride to the Red Planet aboard the one-tonne Perseverance lander, NASA’s latest wheeled robotic rover mission to drive across the planet’s rugged surface. Perseverance will launch from Earth this summer, with touchdown on Mars scheduled for 18 February 2021.

    Flying in the alien atmosphere of another world is a feat that poses a unique set of engineering challenges and yet, if this small technology test mission is successful, it will furnish scientists with a

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